Waterhouse Lawyers can help with your frequently asked questions (FAQ), relating to tax disputes you may have with the ATO.
We spend our time fighting with the ATO and helping clients to deal with tax disputes. This comes in many forms – we negotiate the reduction of tax debts and arrange how they will be paid, we help clients through audits to minimise the downside, we object to the ATO’s decisions and take them to Court when they’re wrong, and we help clients who are charged with tax-related criminal offences.
Yes, even though we are based in Sydney, we can help you with most tax disputes. This is because we deal with Federal tax, which means the issues are the same across Australia. We have helped clients all over Australia with these issues and they have been very happy with our work.
Waterhouse Tax Lawyers is set up to work with you no matter where you are. There are many tools that we can use to make this happen, like phone, email, SMS, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts and Zoom.
We can talk you through how to use all of these. Clients often tell us that they appreciate how easy it is to have a video call with a member of our team, because they don’t have to spend any time travelling to meet with them.
If we need to meet outside of Sydney, then I can arrange that too. This might be necessary if we need to negotiate a settlement of a serious tax dispute with the ATO, or if we need to file an appeal in your local Federal Court.
The only case in which I can’t represent you outside of Sydney is if you’ve been charged with an offence under section 8C of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 for not lodging your tax returns or BAS.
Lawyers and accountants have different skill sets and often you need both to help you through a serious tax issue. I work with a lot of accountants who turn to me for specialist advice when negotiating with ATO or when they need technical advice on how the law applies to their client’s situation.
I can work with your accountant to find a resolution to your legal issue, or even give you a second opinion if you’re unsure whether your accountant is on the right track with your concerns.
Representation by a lawyer rather than an accountant also provides the advantage of legal professional privilege. This means that documents provided to me and advice that I provide to you is protected by law from being disclosed to anyone.
There are a lot of reasons why I might be right lawyer for you.
I know the ATO can get it wrong
The ATO doesn’t always come to the right conclusions when working out how much tax, penalties and interest you owe. When that happens, I can help you to challenge their interpretation of the law and facts to make sure you don’t pay more than you should. When the ATO gets it wrong, I help make it right.
I will own your tax dispute
I’ll treat your tax issue like it’s my tax issue. I’ll think about it day and night — so you can think about it a lot less. I know you have better things to do.
